City Council Investigates 3 Members, But Won't Say Whom

NEW YORK — Three City Council members are under investigation for alleged misconduct but the lawmakers in charge won't say who — or exactly what — is being probed.

The Council's Standards and Ethics Committee moved Tuesday to launch investigations into allegations against three different lawmakers. An agenda for Tuesday's meeting indicates the allegations involve potential violations of Section 10.80 of the Council rules, which prohibits "disorderly behavior."

Councilman Steven Matteo, a Staten Island Republican who chairs the five-member panel, said he could not disclose details and declined to take questions from reporters.

"As is consistent with this committee’s confidentiality provision, the members of this committee are prohibited from discussing these matters, including the identity of the subject Council members, at this time," Matteo said after the committee emerged from a closed-door session that lasted more than an hour.

Tuesday's meeting came amid a widespread backlash over Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.'s recent claim that the "homosexual community" controls most Council members.

Speaker Corey Johnson has said the Council is reviewing disciplinary actions against Diaz, but he would not confirm whether the conservative Bronx Democrat is among the members under investigation. Diaz could be stripped of his post as chair of the For-Hire Vehicles Committee, Johnson said.

"We’ve had previous complaints. They’ve gone through the process," Johnson told reporters. "When there have been findings they’ve become public, and the same thing with these complaints."

Diaz did not return a Patch reporter's phone call Tuesday afternoon.

Section 10.80 of the Council rules bars members from engaging in behavior such as fraud or violating the speaker's policies against "discrimination and harassment."

If the committee finds any of the lawmakers have violated the rules, the Council could impose punishments ranging from a reprimand or a fine to expulsion from the chamber. Two-thirds of the members would have to vote to impose any sanctions.

In December, the committee reportedly examined an alleged ethics violation involving Councilman Mark Gjonaj after Politico New York reported that he used Council funds to pay companies whose principals were donors to his campaign. That matter was referred to the city's Conflicts of Interest Board last week, according to the New York Post.

"[W]e have not been informed that [Gjonaj] is the subject of today’s hearing," Reginald Johnson, the councilman's chief of staff, said in a text message Tuesday.

The probes are the latest to be launched by a committee that has seen an uptick in activity over the past year. The panel has met 16 times since the start of 2018, compared with the nine meetings held from 2014 through 2017, Council records show.

The Council has sent misconduct complaints to the committee "immediately," Johnson said. The speaker also said the body under him has done twice as much sexual harassment and anti-discrimination training as any previous Council.

"Everyone’s going to have due process, while at the same exact time these complaints need to be handled in a very serious manner," Johnson said. "We have to hold ourselves accountable and we have to ensure that no one feels like they don’t have to play by the rules."

(Lead image: Councilman Steven Matteo, right, appears at a Standards and Ethics Committee meeting on Tuesday. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)